Bitcoin sparks liquidations as analyst says BTC price may dip 12% more

Bitcoin (BTC) headed lower into the April 17 Wall Street open as downside began liquidating longs.

BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView

Bitcoinโ€™s price tipped for a break below $29,000

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD wicking to $29,247 on Bitstamp โ€” its lowest in a week.

Gains for Asian stocks failed to rescue the losses on the day, these beginning immediately after the April 16 weekly close.

Traders, many of whom had predicted a retest of $30,000 support, were unsurprised, with many hoping that the event would form a โ€œbuy-the-dipโ€ opportunity before Bitcoin moved higher.

Popular trader Crypto Ed said that BTC/USD had โ€œswept the lows,โ€ while others focused on the area around $28,500 as a potential bottom zone.

โ€œBTC bid ladders down to $28.5k want to get filled, but itโ€™s worth noting that the phrase, โ€˜There are no straight lines in tradingโ€™ applies in both directions,โ€ monitoring resource Material Indicators summarized, noting shifts in liquidity on the Binance order book.

BTC/USD order book data (Binance). Source: Material Indicators/Twitter

Material Indicators co-founder Keith Alan eyed the 21-day moving average at $28,860 as short-term support.

Should this fail to hold, he said, it might spark a retest of the 200-week moving average at $25,860 โ€” around 12% lower than the current spot price and 16.5% below the recent local high.

Despite the broad optimism, Bitcoin bulls were feeling the pain at the time of writing, with long liquidations for April 17 totaling nearly $29 million, according to data from Coinglass. Cross-crypto liquidations stood at nearly $67 million.

โ€œKey level here for Bitcoin,โ€ financial commentator Tedtalksmacro added.

โ€œReclaiming $29.7k is key for new highs… you wanted dip, this is the dip!โ€

Bitcoin liquidations chart. Source: Coinglass

U.S. dollar seeks โ€œtelegraphedโ€ double bottom

United States equities saw a muted reaction at the open, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Index both up by around 0.1%.

Related:ย BTC price heading under $30K? 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week

The U.S. dollar made more solid gains, with the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) above 102 after bouncing from its lowest levels in a year.

U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) 1-day candle chart. Source: TradingView

โ€œWatch $DXY today,โ€ analyst Justin Bennett told Twitter followers.ย 

โ€œIf this plays out, itโ€™ll be the most telegraphed bottom that most failed to see bc they were promised a new bull market.โ€

U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) annotated chart. Source: Justin Bennett/Twitter

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